New Documentary Looks at Keith Richards’ Early Years

Keith Richards' youth is the focus of a new documentary scheduled for BBC broadcast later this year.

Titled Keith Richards - The Origin of the Species, the hour-long film was helmed by director Julien Temple, whose credits include the 1991 Rolling Stones IMAX concert film Stones at the Max. As Temple explained, Origin of the Species offered him a unique opportunity to explore the formative years of one of his greatest influences.

"Listening to the early Stones as a kid changed everything for me," Temple told the BBC. "I felt a new way of living emerging, a new kind of person becoming possible — something I wanted to be a part of. And without a doubt I thought Keith Richards was the origin of the species. This film sets out to explore how both he and the '60s in England came about."

Part of a season of BBC programming dedicated to bringing "the swinging '60s to life," The Origin of the Species is set to air in July, and will be followed by a broadcast block dubbed "Keith Richards' Lost Weekend." Scheduled for September, it's described as "two nights of programming all hand-picked by Keith, which could include documentaries, films and live performances."

"There was a feeling late '50s/early '60s that there was a change coming," Richards tells Temple in The Origin of the Species. "Harold Macmillan actually said it — the 'winds of change' and all that — but he didn’t mean it in quite the same way. I certainly felt that for my generation, what was happening and the feeling in the air was — it’s time to push limits. The world is ours now and you can rise or fall on it."